Building panels and channels

ABSTRACT

Prefabricated panels are erected with channels for constructing a building. Each panel has two fiber glass walls spaced apart by insulating material with offset flanges for interlocking with the adjacent panel. U-shaped channels mounted to the floor concealingly extend into the bottom of the panels. Cap channels cover the top of each panel, forming a raceway, and also serving as a mounting for the second-story panels. Corner panels and channels are provided, as well as T-shaped panels and channels. Rafters having fiber glass walls separated by insulating material fit over the channels to support the second floor.

United States Patent 1 Randolph BUILDING PANELS AND CHANNELS Filed:

Inventor: Russell 11. Randolph, 4622 Devon Drive, Indianapolis, Ind.

Sept. 3, 1970 App1.No.: 69,193

52/271, 52/593, 52/300, 52/622 [51 Int. Cl. ..E04b 2/08 [58] Field ofSearch ..52/309, 425, 372, 370, 593,

[4 1 March 6, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS PrimaryExaminer-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examinerl-lenry E. RaduazoAttorney-Woodard, Weikart, Ernhardt & Naughton 57] ABSTRACTPrefabricated panels are erected with channels for constructing abuilding. Each panel has two fiber glass walls spaced apart byinsulating material with offset flanges for interlocking with theadjacent panel. U- shaped channels mounted to the floor concealinglyextend into the bottom of the panels. Cap channels cover the top of eachpanel, forming a raceway, and also serving as a mounting for thesecond-story panels. Corner panels and channels are provided, as well asT- shaped panels and channels. Rafters having fiber glass wallsseparated by insulating material fit over the channels to support thesecond floor.

6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAR 61113 3,719,016

SHEET 20F 2 IN VENTOR Russe/l H. Randa4a/z az a5 83 By Mania/m, MM,F157. 5 MM! Attorneys BACKGROUND 'OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention is in the field of prefabricated buildingconstruction. I

2. Description of the Prior Art Prefabricated panels have been devisedto reduce the cost of constructing a building. Some of these panels aredisclosed in the following U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,174,590 issued to Halter;3,299,270 issued to DAvella; 3,313,073 issued to Mathews; 3,328,933issued to Lutze; and 3,357,146 issued to Gartrell.

Many of the prior art panels require special fastening devices to lockadjacent panels together. The use of fastening devices add to the timeand cost of erection, and are, therefore, not desirable. Anotherdisadvantage of the prior art panels is that they are not water tightand allow heat transfer. The heat transfer typically occurs byconduction of heat via the various metal fastening devices and flanges.In addition, the prior art panels do not readily mount to floors, norare the panels readily mounted atop one another.

From the above background, it can be seen that there is a need for awater tight building construction having panels fastened together insuch a way so as to minimize heat transfer. The building constructionshould be rigid, strong and erectable quickly and easily, withoutrequiring special fastening devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is prefabricated panels andchannels for use in building construction. Each. panel has two fiberglass walls separated by polyurethane foam insulating material. Adjacentpanels are locked together by offset flanges provided at the backs ofthe panel walls. U-shaped channels sealingly mounted to the bottom gradeare concealed within the panel sidewallsand extend into slotsformedalong the bottom of the insulating material. The insulatingmaterial is recessed at the top of each panel forming a raceway. A capchannel covers each panel top and will support second-story panels.Corner panels and channels are provided, as well as T-shaped panels andchannels. Rafters having fiber glass members separated by polyurethanefoam insulating material fit over the cap channels to support the secondfloor or roof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a water-tightbuilding construction having panels fastened together in such a way soas to minimize heat transfer through the panels.

It is a further object of the present inventionto provide the previouslydescribed building construction which is erectable quickly and'easilywithout requiring special fastening devices.

Another object of this invention is to provide a modular structure thatis fireproof, vermin proof, moisture proofand dust proof.

Yet another object of this inventionis to provide a modular buildingpanel which incorporates a textured exterior surface simulating stone,wood, brick or other surfaces in various weatherproofcolors andatextured interior surface ofa variety of designs.

Also an object of this invention is to provide a complete system ofmodularbuilding construction incorporating improved methods ofinterlocking, insulation and erection.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspectiveview of building construction incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the panels of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the panel of FIG. 2 viewed in the direction ofarrows 3--3.

FIGS. 4A through 4H illustrate perspective views of the various channelsutilized in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the rafters utilized in thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a T-shaped panel shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promotingan understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will nowbe made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawing and specificlanguage will be used] to describe the same. It will nevertheless beunderstood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is therebyintended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrateddevice, and such further applications of the principles of the inventionas illustrated herein being contemplated as would normally occur to oneskilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated buildingconstruction 10 mounted on top of a floor or grade .11. Construction 10has a first story 13 and a second story 14, each having panels joinedtogether in such a manner so as to form rooms. A perspective view ofpanel is shown in FIG. 2. Panel 20 has a'flrst side wall 21 spaced froma second side wall 22 by insulating material 23. A variety of materialsmay be used as insulation; however, best results have been obtained byproducing insulating material 23 from polyurethane foam. Walls 21 and 22are made from fiber glass and have offset flanges 29 and 30 integrallyattached to walls 22 and 21 at the back 31 of panel 20. The insulatingmaterial of the adjacent panel is formed to receive flanges 29 and30.That is, slots and 26 are formed in material 23 at the front 32 of panel20 to receive the offset flanges of the adjacent panel. Material23 doesnot extend beyond the integral junction of flanges 29 and to walls 22and 21 in order that the adjacent tongue 33 formed between slots 25 and26 may fit between flanges 29 and 30. Panels 19 and 35 in FIG. 1 are cutaway at 36 to more clearly illustrate the fitting relationshipbetweenthe two panels. Material 23 of panel 35 has slots 25 and 26 to receivethe offset flanges of panel 19. Tongue 33 of panel 19 extends betweenthe offset flanges and abuts against the insulating material of panel35. It has been determined that slots 25. and 26 should be under-sizedwith respect to offset flanges 29 and 30 to insure a tight fit.Insulating material 23 does not extend completely to the top of walls 21and 22 (FIG. 2) so as to form raceway 27 for receiving and concealingelectrical conduits and mechanical plumbing within the panel. Holes maybe readily drilled through insulating material 23 to facilitate therouting of the electrical conduits and mechanical plumbing. The bottom24 of each panel is mounted on top of a channel having upwardlyextending flanges. Channel 50 (FIG. 1) has two upstanding flanges 47 and49 integrally joined to a base 48. The insulating material on the bottomof panel 20 is slotted along the entire bottom edge of said walls 21 and22 to receive flanges 47 and 49. In addition, the insulating materialdoes not extend down to the bottom edge of walls 21 and 22 in order thatbase 48 will not interfere with the insulating material, and so thatwalls 21 and 22 will extend down sufficiently so as to conceal flanges47 and 49.

FIG. 3 is a side view of panel 20 viewed in the direction of arrows 33of FIG. 2. The bottom 28 of offset flange 29 is notched so as to notinterfere with the upstanding flange of channel 50. Flange 29 is offsetsufficiently so as to be exactly over and parallel with the upstandingflange of channel 50. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the bottomportion from offset flange 29. The bottom portion of offset flange 30 ofside wall 21 (FIG. 2) is notched in a manner identical to that of flange29.

It can be appreciated that the construction shown in FIG. 1 can bevaried greatly depending on the exact needs of the building. Of course,the panels and channels must also be varied depending on the exactneeds. Panels 12, 19, 20, 34 and 35 are identical. Corner panels and 18are identical, and are very similar to the panels already described. Infact, corner panels 15 and 18 are identical with respect to thepreviously described panels except that panels 15 and 18 are L- shapedthereby forming a corner. The walls of the corner panel 15 areconfigured from two separate pieces of fiber glass, each wall being ofone piece and L-shaped, thereby forming a corner with each wall havingan offset flange at its opposite end. The inside corner wall and theoutside corner wall of this panel are separated by foam as in the otherpanels, but when complete, the corner panel is an integral L-shapedpanel which lends basic rigidity to the entire structure.

A variety of channels are required with the present invention and areillustrated in FIG. 4. Base channel 50 has upstanding flanges 47 and 49integrally joined to base 48 with grooves 46 formed on its bottom.Mastic is placed within grooves 46 across the bottom of base 48 to sealthe base channel to grade 11. In many cases, grade 11 is concrete andthus anchor bolts 50 may be embedded into the concrete with shanksextending through suitably sized holes in base 48. Nuts are thenthreaded onto the shanks, thereby securing the base channel to thegrade. The tops of flanges 47 and 49 are bevelled inward so as tofacilitate ease of entry into the bottom slots of the panel. Corner basechannel 51 is identical to channel 50 except that it is configured at aright angle to receive the bottom of a corner panel, such as panel 18 ofFIG. 1. Dual cap channel 52 (FIG. 4) is used to mount a second storypanel on top of a first story panel. Channel 52 has a base 43 integrallyjoined to two downward extending flanges 44 and 45 and to two upwardlyextending flanges 41 and 42. Flanges 44 and 45 are spaced apart, fittingon the outside surfaces of the first story side panel walls, whileflanges 41 and 42 fit within the inside surface of the second story sidepanel walls. Referring to FIG. 1, the upwardly extending flanges 41 and42 of channel 52 fit within panel 16, whereas the downwardly extendingflanges of channel 52 fit on the outside of the side walls of panel 20.Channel 58 of FIG. 4 is identical to channel 52 except that it isconfigured to receive a corner panel. Channel 58 is mounted on top ofcorner panel 15 of FIG. I, and supports corner panel 18.

In the event the top of the panels is not jointed to a top floor orroof, then cap channels 53 and 54 (FIG. 4) are used to cover the paneltop. Channels 53 and 54 have downwardly extending flanges which arespaced apart for fitting on the outside of the panel side walls.Typically, channels 53 and 54 are placed on top of panels forming roompartitions or officettes. Cap channel 54 is configured to cover the topof a corner panel. T-shaped channel 55 has a single cap channel 56identical to cap channel 53 as is bonded to the side of a dual capchannel 57, identical to channel 52. Channel 55 is used to cover the topof T-shaped channel (FIGS. 1 and 6). A top view of panel 70 is shown inFIG. 6 with channel 55 removed. Two L-shaped side walls 73 and 74 arespaced apart and from wall by insulating material 76. Panel 70 isidentical with respect to the previous panels described except for the Tconfiguration. The insulating material is recessed and slotted on thebottom of panel 70 for receiving channel 50 and is also recessed at thetop of panel 70 for concealing electrical conduits and mechanicalplumbing. Slots 77 and 78 are formed in the insulating material at end84 and slots 82 and 83 are formed in the insulating material at end 85for receiving offset flange ends of adjacent panels. The insulatingmaterial is recessed at end 81 with offset flanges 79 and integrallyattached to walls 75 and 74. The T-shaped channel 55 is installed on thetop of panel 70 with channel 56 fitting over side panel 71 and channel57 fitting over back panel 72 and supporting panels 19 and 35 of FIG. 1.

Rafters 59 and 60 fit over channel 56 for supporting a second floor. Aperspective view of rafter 60 is illustrated in FIG. 5 having fiberglass walls 61 and 62 spaced apart by insulating material 63. The endsof rafter 60 have slots 65 and 66 extending through material 63 andwalls 61 and 62 for engaging the innermost flanges of dual cap channel52. Panels 16 and 17 are cut away at 67 in FIG. 1 showing slot 65engaging the innermost flange 41 of channel 52. End portion 68 (FIG. 5)of rafter 60 freely fits between flanges 41 and 42 resting atop of base43 (FIG. 1) of channel 52. The innermost wall of the panels is cut outin order that rafter 60 may pass therein. Thus, panels 17 and 36 are cutout at 69 receiving rafter 59. In the event, rafters 60 are required tosupport a roof, then slots 65 and 66 are made sufficiently wide so as tofit over the cap channels 53 of FIG. 4. The rafter 60 in the latter caseoverhangs on the exterior of the building.

As previously described, a variety of insulating materials may be usedbetween the side walls. Polyurethane foam is particularly advantageoussince the exothermic reaction occuring during the expansion of the foamproduces sufficient heat to chemically bond the insulating material tothe side walls, thereby providing a very strong panel with excellentinsulation characteristics. The polyurethane foam and the fiber glasswalls are fireproof thereby enhancing the desirability of theconstruction.

It will be obvious that the present invention provides a water tightbuilding construction having panels fastened together at their tops andbottoms by channels thereby minimizing heat transfer through the panels.lt will also be obvious that the building construction provides a veryrigid structure erectable quickly and easily, without requiring specialfastening devices. Also, it will be obvious that the panels of thedescribed building construction are prefabricated away from theconstruction site, and may be textured in such a manner so as tosimulate various wall designs and surfaces.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

l. A building structure comprising:

. first story interlocking rigid panels having first and secondnon-metallic walls parallel and spaced apart, said panels having rigidinsulating material between and connecting said first and second walls,said material being chemically bonded to said first and second walls;

base channels fixedly mounted to a floor and having said panels mountedthereon, said base channels each having a pair of first spaced apartmounting members extending up between said material and said walls withsaid material extending down between said members of each pair;

cap channels mounted to the top of said panels having retaining flangesextending down adjacent and outboard of said walls;

second story interlocking panels identical to said first storyinterlocking panels and mounted atop said cap channels; and wherein:said cap channels each have a second pair of spaced apart mountingmembers extending up between the material and the side walls of saidsecond story panels with the material of the second story panelsextending down between the members of each said pair;

said walls of said first story panels and said second story panels haveback ends with offset parallel flanges disposed inward of said walls andconnected to said back ends, said walls of said first story panels andsecond story panels have from ends;

said insulating material has slots positioned adjacent said walls atsaid front ends, said slots sealingly and concealingly receive saidoffset parallel flanges;

said walls have top ends and bottom ends with said insulating materialrecessed at said top ends forming a raceway, said material is recessedand slotted at said bottom end sealingly and concealingly receiving saidbase channels.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein:

said offset parallel flanges are aligned with and positioned over saidfirst members of said base channel.

3. The structure of claim 1 additionally comprising:

rafters having a pair of parallel walls spaced apart, said parallelwalls are slotted fittingly engaging said second pair of members of saidcap channels.

4. The structure ofclaim 1 wherein: some of said first story panels andsaid second story

1. A building structure comprising: first story interlocking rigidpanels having first and second non-metallic walls parallel and spacedapart, said panels having rigid insulating material between andconnecting said first and second walls, said material being chemicallybonded to said first and second walls; base channels fixedly mounted toa floor and having said panels mounted thereon, said base channels eachhaving a pair of first spaced apart mounting members extending upbetween said material and said walls with said material extending downbetween said members of each pair; cap channels mounted to the top ofsaid panels having retaining flanges extending down adjacent andoutboard of said walls; second story interlocking panels identical tosaid first story interlocking panels and mounted atop said cap channels;and wherein: said cap channels each have a second pair of spaced apartmounting members extending up between the material and the side walls ofsaid second story panels with the material of the second story panelsextending down between the members of each said pair; said walls of saidfirst story panels and said second story panels have back ends withoffset parallel flanges disposed inward of said walls and connected tosaid back ends, said walls of said first story panels and second storypanels have front ends; said insulating material has slots positionedadjacent said walls at said front ends, said slots sealingly andconcealingly receive said offset parallel flanges; said walls have topends and bottom ends with said insulating material recessed at said topends forming a raceway, said material is recessed and slotted at saidbottom end sealingly and concealingly receiving said base channels.
 1. Abuilding structure comprising: first story interlocking rigid panelshaving first and second non-metallic walls parallel and spaced apart,said panels having rigid insulating material between and connecting saidfirst and second walls, said material being chemically bonded to saidfirst and second walls; base channels fixedly mounted to a floor andhaving said panels mounted thereon, said base channels each having apair of first spaced apart mounting members extending up between saidmaterial and said walls with said material extending down between saidmembers of each pair; cap channels mounted to the top of said panelshaving retaining flanges extending down adjacent and outboard of saidwalls; second story interlocking panels identical to said first storyinterlocking panels and mounted atop said cap channels; and wherein:said cap channels each have a second pair of spaced apart mountingmembers extending up between the material and the side walls of saidsecond story panels with the material of the second story panelsextending down between the members of each said pair; said walls of saidfirst story panels and said second story panels have back ends withoffset parallel flanges disposed inward of said walls and connected tosaid back ends, said walls of said first story panels and second storypanels have front ends; said insulating material has slots positionedadjacent said walls at said front ends, said slots sealingly andconcealingly receive said offset parallel flanges; said walls have topends and bottom ends with said insulating material recessed at said topends forming a raceway, said material is recessed and slotted at saidbottom end sealingly and concealingly receiving said base channels. 2.The structure of claim 1 wherein: said offset parallel flanges arealigned with and positioned over said first members of said basechannel.
 3. The structure of claim 1 additionally comprising: raftershaving a pair of parallel walls spaced apart, said parallel walls areslotted fittingly engaging said second pair of members of said capchannels.
 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein: some of said first storypanels and said second story panels are corner shaped; and, some of saidfirst story panels and said second story panels are T-shaped.
 5. Thestructure of claim 4 additionally comprising: anchor bolts embedded insaid floor having shanks lockingly engaged with said base channels.